WITNESSES AT CODY TRIAL TESTIFY ABOUT THREATS

AP

Published: September 26, 1982

UNIONDALE, L.I., Sept. 25—
Threats of violence and requests for kickbacks were part of dealing with John Cody, the teamsters' union leader, according to testimony in Federal District Court here.

The testimony, however, is at odds with defense contentions in the trial of the powerful labor leader, who stands accused of labor racketeering, tax evasion and extortion.

In his opening statement last Wednesday to the six-man, six-woman jury, the defense attorney, Stephen Scaring, said that the Government had been ''far from objective'' during its 14-year investigation of his client and that many of the witnesses against Mr. Cody were seeking to resolve their own problems with the Federal Government.

Mr. Cody, as head of Local 282 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, controls the movement of vehicles on and off every major construction site in New York City and on Long Island. He has direct control of 3,000 workers, and can halt the flow of supplies to the projects and the removal of excavated material. Specifics of the Charges

He is accused of using the actual or implied threat of labor unrest to extort a $1,000-a-month apartment for use with his mistress and thousands of dollars in material and labor for construction of a home in Southampton, L.I., and to obtain tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from brokers in the sale of the Hampton Country Club in Riverhead, L.I,, which was owned by the Local 282 Pension Trust Fund.

The prosecutor, Michael Guandagno, called three witnesses to the stand last week. The three men, Thomas F. Gallagher Jr., Herbert Schneider and Henry Richard Norman, discussed work at the Cody home and the country club deal.

Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Schneider both said that their construction companies had worked on the home and that payment was long delayed. Mr. Schneider said he had received the $4,753 he was owed only after he told Mr. Cody that he had been questioned by a grand jury in the case. He got the money 10 years after the work was performed, he said.

Mr. Gallagher said that he had supplied concrete for the foundation of the home, and that Mr. Cody had demanded a $3,000 kickback instead of paying the $5,333 bill. Threat Is Recounted

''I told him I had decided there was no way I would get involved in that,'' Mr. Gallagher said. He said Mr. Cody had then threatened him. He said he halted operation of his company, which grossed $4 million annually, after several Long Island builders told him Mr. Cody had advised them not to deal with Mr. Gallagher.

On April 3, 1973, ''literally hundreds of strange people surrounded my two plants,'' Mr. Gallagher said. ''They indicated to me they would like me to stop doing business.''

He said the men were Local 282 members from New York City. A court order ended the picketing four days later. A $60,000 Kickback

Mr. Norman said Mr. Cody had asked him for $60,000 of the $175,000 commission he had received for arranging the 1970 purchase of the club.

''I had no objection to it, and I agreed to it,'' Mr. Norman testified. The Cody trial is the culmination of an investigation that began in 1968. The trial opened last Wednesday before District Judge Jacob Mishler after delays because of a missing witness and procedural matters.

Marilyn Taggart, who the prosecution has identified as Mr. Cody's mistress, fled the country in May, just before the trial originally was to have begun, with her as a key witness.